Women's Soccer

PIRATE NEWS

PORT ANGELES – The Seattle Stars, Western Oregon University and The Evergreen State College will join the Peninsula Pirates for a full day of spring exhibition soccer at the annual Rumble in the Rainforest, set for April 28 at Peninsula College.The Rumble, sponsored by High Energy Metals and Drake’s Pizza, will provide a very good test for Peninsula’s returning freshmen, as well as all of the sophomores who will be playing at the next level in 2018-19.

“We are excited to compete against the high level players who will be here representing the Seattle Stars, Western Oregon, and Evergreen,” said Rick Ross, Associate Dean for Athletics and Student Life. “Coach Anderson and Coach Hughes have put together a great tournament. Soccer fans of all ages will enjoy these matches.”

The Seattle Stars Football Club is an adult amateur elite club based out of King County. Founded in 2011, the Stars play in the Evergreen Premier Soccer League.

Western Oregon, a Division II university located in Monmouth, Oregon, is bringing its women’s team to the Rumble this year. The Wolves, who last fall were led by former Pirate Kai Mahuka, a senior defender named All-GNAC honorable mention, play in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. WOU finished sixth in that nine-team conference in 2017.

The Evergreen State College men fill out the Rumble’s guest roster. The Geoducks, an NAIA program, went 7-5-5 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play, completing their fourth straight season with a winning record.

The host Pirates, meanwhile, are coming off another outstanding showing in the Northwest Athletic Conference.

The smallest community college in Washington State climbed to No. 4 in the national junior college women’s soccer rankings and went unbeaten, winning 20 straight matches, before falling in overtime in the NWAC championship to claim second place. Along the way, the Pirate women won their seventh straight league championship.

The Peninsula men, meanwhile, winners of nine of the last 11 league titles, went 12-3-4 overall in 2017, placing second in the North Region, and bowing out in the first round of the playoffs. At one time, the Pirates were ranked No. 10 in the nation, but untimely injuries impacted their post season for the second straight year.

BELLINGHAM – Two Northwest college soccer powerhouses, the 2016 national champion Western Washington University Vikings, and the 2016 Northwest Athletic Conference champion Peninsula Pirates, met for a spring scrimmage at Harrington Field Sunday where the Pirates did something few teams have done in recent years - they beat the Vikes.

Western is one of the top NCAA Division II women’s soccer teams in the country. They won a national title in 2016 and in the process, put together a two-year, 39-game winning streak, the fourth longest win streak in NCAA Division II history. It ended in October, but the Vikings went on to a sixth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The Pirates, meanwhile, went unbeaten this past fall, before falling in overtime in the NWAC championship match in November. They were ranked No. 4 in the nation among junior colleges at the time.

“It was an honor that Western invited Kanyon and his team up for a friendly,” said Rick Ross, Associate Dean for Athletics and Student Life. “It speaks to how highly regarded our soccer program has become. To be fair, it wasn’t a regular season match and the Vikings beat the University of British Columbia 2-1 in a scrimmage that preceded our match on Sunday afternoon, but they have a large and talented roster (30 players) and it was a great test for our Pirates.”

Peninsula sophomore Malia Brudvik of Auburn opened the scoring when she squared up on a ball that was 30 yards out and blasted it threw the outstretched hands of WWU goal keeper Hillary O’Connor of Los Angeles, and just under the crossbar for a 1-0 Pirate lead just 10 minutes into the match.

The Pirates then went up 2-0 with 26 minutes remaining in the first half. Janis Martinez-Ortiz put a corner kick on goal, the ball was knocked away by O’Connor, but Pirate Samantha Guzman, a red-shirt freshman from Corona, California, went high in the air to boot it past three Viking defenders and into the WWU net.

Western’s best opportunity to score came with a minute to play in the first half when Talia Daigle, a freshman from Edmonds, slipped into the left side of the box and took a shot at close range, but Peninsula’s freshman keeper Kassidy Zinda laid out for the ball and knocked it wide to preserve the shutout.

The two teams played scoreless through a chilly second half under the lights at Harrington Field and the Pirates emerged with a 2-0 victory.

Head coach Kanyon Anderson and his staff were not only pleased with the opportunity to scrimmage the Vikings, but they were happy with the outcome.

“Western had more possession and we had to stay patient and organized in defense which we did,” Anderson said. “That is not something we get to practice often during the season, so to play a completely different style successfully says a lot about this group's maturity.”

Anderson also praised the play of his defense, who helped Zinda earn the shutout.

“Our defenders were great. Sam Guzman and Halle Watson kept us organized, Mailia Brudvik, Emelie Small and Pi'ilani Chaves were great at the outside back, and Sarah Reiber covered a lot of ground and made big plays all game at defensive midfield,” he said.

TUKWILA – One untimely bounce proved to be the difference between a historic championship season and just a historic remarkable season for the Peninsula College women’s soccer team.

In a repeat of the 2016 Northwest Athletic Conference women’s soccer championship, Highline and Peninsula battled through a scoreless 90 minutes Sunday at a rainy Starfire Sports field – and once again, the only goal of the match came in overtime. This year, however, it was the Thunderbirds who produced the goal and hoisted the NWAC trophy.

“It’s such a razor thin difference between the celebration and the hardware, and the sorrow,” Pirate head coach Kanyon Anderson said after the match.

His team had to settle for second place with just one heartbreaking loss on its’ record, but it was still a historic run for the Pirates. Peninsula had won a nation-leading 38 straight games, dating back to early 2016, and this year set the NWAC scoring record for women’s soccer with 142 goals, smashing the 129 that Walla Walla tallied in 2007.

Peninsula climbed to No. 4 in the national rankings, equaling the highest such mark in the College’s history – in any sport.

The Pirates finished with a 20-1-0 record, just missing a chance to become the first unbeaten team in Peninsula’s storied eight-year soccer history – and also just missing a chance to become the winningest women’s soccer program in NWAC history. No team has won four NWAC titles – and that is a chapter coach Anderson and his Pirates still have ahead of them to write.

The Pirates won NWAC trophies in 2016 when they went 19-1-1, in 2013 when they were 20-2-0, and in 2012 when they finished 22-1-1.

It was also a record-breaking year for two individual players. Sophomore Sydney Warren, who on Sunday was named the 2017 NWAC Player of the Year and previously awarded North Region MVP, finished with 31 goals, a single season record, and NWAC All-Star teammate Jordyn Dicintio broke Peninsula’s single season and career assist record with 28.

In Sunday’s thrilling final, a big crowd turned out to cheer on both teams under the roof at Starfire Stadium – and they saw some outstanding soccer.

There were momentum shifts throughout the match, and each team had point-blank scoring opportunities denied by outstanding defensive efforts.

Peninsula outshot Highline 8-7 on the night, but both keepers, Peninsula’s Akari Hoshino and Highline’s Jocelyn Hanrath, came up big when the heat was on.

The fouls were also pretty even, as the T-birds were whistled for 12 and the Pirates 11.

Two scoreless halves sent the match into overtime, and in the first golden goal OT period, Highline worked the ball down to the Peninsula end, a throw-in found its way into the box, bouncing into an open space, and it was almost like slow motion for Pirate fans when Highline’s Jewel Boland pounced on the ball and blasted it past a diving Hoshino to suddenly end the match. Bella Keane was credited with the assist.